MCQ Sew-In at U.S. Army Women's Museum

On Saturday, well before the crack of dawn, the alarm woke us up to hit the road. Destination: U.S. Army Women's Museum at Ft. Lee, Virgina. We grabbed a shower, a bagel, and some fruit, and went out the door just after 0600.

We arrived at the Museum shortly after 0800 to find BJ and Hank, as well as Pat, the president of the Army Women's Foundation, and some of the museum staff. They already had a lot of stuff set up and well organized. Tables all over the place, food in the kitchen, a square signing station, sample quilt, display board and other informational stuff, name tags, etc.. BJ was ready to rock and roll!

As we arrived, Trinia and a couple of kids (Trinia is staff at the museum, and one of the kids was hers) were putting state flags out front to greet everyone. I later found out that this was was done special for MCQ, and that the flags hadn't been out in 5 years!

By 0900 others were starting to filter in. The regular Virginia crowd was well represented, with Kim and Tracy and other familiar faces, but there were lots of people I didn't know as well. By the end of the day I believe there were somewhere between 50 - 60 people involved. I know that there was a church group, a girl scout troop, and a Marine Jr. R.O.T.C. unit represented.

BJ was all over the place trying to keep everything running smoothly. Kim was likewise putting out fires, and Tracy was doing a mix of that and getting hands-on with a lot of the layout work. Hank provided instruction to the different groups that came in, showing them how to do whatever task they were taking on. Mike was doing likewise, and Terri barely left her sewing machine all day. I took pictures.

Did I mention the pictures? I love my digital camera! I came home with over 260 pictures on my flash card, and somehow I think I ended up with more posted than I brought home. I'm not feeling very well and I've been processing images all day, so you may find some duplicates when you go look. Get over it! Actually I may fix them, but not right now. I tried to get a flavor of the event, and also show some of the museum itself.

Throughout the day the ladies at the museum were more than hospitable. They were involved in sewing and signing blocks and helped keep things moving smoothly. They brought yummy munchies and just made the whole event memorable.

The museum itself was worth the trip, with exhibits showing how women have been involved in military action in the U.S. since 1775, going through present day operations. I think Terri and I will visit again in December.

Again I have to mention our troops. Yeah, I'm married to one. But I never fail to notice the quality of the people that serve in uniform. Throughout the day there were several times when different Army personnel came into the museum. Some were with their families who were visiting, some were lost and looking for directions. All were professional, courteous, sharp people. Toward the end of the day two guys came in doing a security check, one a lieutenant, the other enlisted (sorry I don't know Army enlisted rank insignia) and I talked them into signing squares. They appreciated the effort being made for military families and didn't let on that they were bothered by the fat bald guy.

There were some minor issues with so many people involved, but those things will be worked out with experience, and we got through it all OK.

I can't tell you how impressive it is to see people commit so strongly to a cause when they believe in something. The folks that show up every time, the folks that are drawn in for the first time, they all come and work for their own reasons, but these quilts are priceless treasures to the people that receive them. I'm proud to be a very small part of it.

OK, the tease is over, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Hit the menu link, then the Pictures - News link. It's easy to find, and there's something like 12 pages worth of thumbnail pictures. Clicking the thumbs will give you a larger picture, and your "back" button will take you back to that thumbnail page. If you want any of the pictures in full resolution, drop me a note with the file name and I'll send you the big versions.

On an unrelated note, I broke another spoke on my bike's rear wheel. I was planning to rebuild it anyway, but now I have to do it before I can ride again. It'll be fun, I think.